Date: Thu, 31 Mar 94 16:34:58 edt
From: flg@asc.upenn.edu
Subject: Rush Limbaugh's Military Record. Not!
Picked this up from another net:
THE WASHINGTON POST UNMASKS RUSH LIMBAUGH
What does Rush Limbaugh have in common with Bill
Clinton that he does not want you to know? Answer: Like the
President, who he attempted to lambast for not fighting in
the Vietnam War, Mr. Limbaugh is forced to admit now that
he also did not want to serve in Vietnam and that he found a
way to avoid ("dodge") the draft into military service.
Oooooh....Maybe now his buddy Bob Dornan can find Rush
somewhere in Moscow around that time...
"War wimp" is a term that has been used to describe
someone who cavalierly advocates sending young soldiers into
combat without having experienced combat themselves. It is
synonymous with "chicken hawk." Famous war wimps include
George Will, Newt Gingrich, Sylvester Stallone, Pat
Buchanan, and even Ronald Reagan (making Army training
movies instead of doing combat in Europe).
People who challenged the qualifications of Bill
Clinton appeared to think that good Presidents, who may have
to send young soldiers into combat, must have military
service in their background (despite Abe Lincoln and FDR not
meeting those qualifications...). Rush Limbaugh was one of
those who taunted the Clinton candidacy with doubts about
Clinton's military experience. Limbaugh sounded tough, like
someone who himself had seen action in war -- someone who
would proudly answer their nation's call to go anywhere to
serve.
However, the facts show that Limbaugh dodged the draft
every bit as much as Bill Clinton (and Dan Quayle) did. Yes,
this paragon of right-wing steel and pariah of white male
anger, has had his mask peeled off. A reporter for the
Washington Post, David Remnick, did the peeling. In the
February 28-March 6, 1994 issue (vol. 11, 18, pp. 23-24),
Remnick notes how Limbaugh slipped past the draft with the
medical problem of having an ingrown hair on his backside.
He was able to claim the ailment of polonoidal cyst, which
gave him the most trouble, apparently, around the time he
needed it to. This won Mr. Limbaugh a 1-Y classification
with his draft board. A ticket out of military service and
protection from Vietnam. Later, of course, Mr. Limbaugh
would be quick to praise OTHERS who took up rifles for the
American Way.
Rush Limbaugh, graduate of the Elkins Institute of
Radio and Technology in Dallas, and dropout of Southeast
Missouri State, is going to have to walk on thin ice for a
while when it comes to talk of war and peace. Military base
tours may have to be cancelled. But, of course, there will
always be the 4.5 million listeners who love him. Yet, most
Americans like consistency; they like people to talk and act
in ways that do not contradict each other. Limbaugh has
violated this norm. Instead of a medal of honor, he has
earned a badge of hypocrisy. May he wear it proudly.